Star Trek's Benedict Cumberbatch Auditioned By iPhone

Benedict Cumberbatch is perhaps best known as Sherlock in Steven Moffat’s modern retelling of the Arthur Conan Doyle classic, but he’s also playing the villain in the upcoming Star Trek sequel — and it’s a part he got by auditioning on an iPhone.
In an interview with NPR to promote the second season of Sherlock — one of those rare cases where we get excellent telly before the US — Cumberbatch revealed how he put together his audition reel for the part over Christmas when he couldn’t find a casting director to record it. He simply got a mate of his to record it on his iPhone

“My best friend, Adam Ackland, and his wife, Alice, basically helped me out. I was in a bit of a corner. … They recorded me in their kitchen at about 11 o’clock.”

Now, who said Hollywood was all glitz and glamour? It certainly hasn’t hurt Cumberbatch’s casting aspirations; he’s also the voice of Smaug in The Hobbit. [NPR]Photo: Tim Whitby/Getty Images

Discuss

I think it's only now screening on US television. And I also don't think using a phone to shoot professional footage (let alone an audition) is news any more. The N8 was used to shoot entire short films and then there was the rumour that the iPhone was used to shoot The Avengers that got fanboys wet.